


thy daughter in law, which loveth thee

by Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)



Category: Bible (Old Testament)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Unrequited Love, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 05:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenfalling/pseuds/Elizabeth%20Culmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naomi loves Ruth, but not quite as Ruth would wish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	thy daughter in law, which loveth thee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Summercloud](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summercloud/gifts).



> This story went angsty and unrequited on me, and I couldn't turn it around and get a proper happy ending out of it. Sorry about that. At least Naomi and Ruth are still together in some form, and apparently Ruth is happy with Boaz once they marry?

First Ruth loved her father, as was proper. She loved her brothers. Those were chaste loves, familiar and well-worn.

Next she loved her husband. She honored him and they knew each other. That was a new love, intense and sometimes sharp-edged, and sweet as honey in its early delights. They had no children, and that was a grief, but still they had each other.

Third she loved her family in law. That was a more distant love at first, but as she grew to know Naomi, Ruth loved her as the mother she had never known. She loved Orpah as the sister she had always wished for. They made her heart light, and her happiness pleased her husband.

When Elimalech, Mahlon, and Chilion died, Ruth grieved them separately and together, and she wondered what would become of her. But she still had Naomi and Orpah.

Then Orpah left.

"Follow her," Naomi urged. "Return to your father and let him find you a new husband. You are still young enough to bear children. You should not chain yourself to me."

Ruth did not want to return to her father. She had pledged herself to her husband and to his family. While one of that family remained, she could not abandon her place.

And she loved Naomi.

"No," she said again. "Your God is my God; your path my path. I will not abandon you. Do not ask me to forsake you."

This time, Naomi listened, and they prepared for the journey to Bethlehem in silence.

\-----

The road was long, and dry, and dusty. The nights were cold. Ruth and Naomi shared their blankets for warmth.

"What is Bethlehem like?" Ruth asked one morning as they prepared to set out again. "Will I be welcome there?"

"Yes," said Naomi. "You are a woman of virtue and grace. Your heart is filled with loving kindness. Any man would be pleased to have your for his wife."

And what of the women? What would they think of a stranger in their midst, catching the eyes of their men? Naomi had welcomed Ruth with open arms and heart, but that was as a mother to a new daughter, not a friend to a friend.

"I do not deserve such praise, but I thank you for setting my heart at ease," said Ruth.

Naomi took the newly folded blanket from Ruth's hands and added it to her own pack. "I will carry this today," she said. "You should enjoy the walk. I have seen this land before, with Elimalech, but it is new to you."

Ruth thought the land was not so rich as Moab, nor so strong as Naomi, but she turned her eyes to the hills and valleys and kept her thoughts to herself.

\-----

The man who allowed her to glean was a fine, strong man, upright in his carriage and honest and kind in his speech and actions. Ruth looked upon him with pleasure, and thought about how long she had been alone in her bed since her husband and his brother died.

"His name is Boaz," she told Naomi.

Naomi's grief and weariness seemed to slough off like the shed skin of a serpent, or clouds fleeing the face of the sun. "Truly? I bless and thank the Lord for his kindness, for I know of that man. Boaz is one of my near kinsmen, and so one of yours as well. If he is as honorable as you say, he will redeem you and our land, if only we approach him humbly."

Ruth had not known Naomi had kinsmen remaining in Elimalech's family. She considered the thought of marriage to Boaz, and found it good. But would he take her into his household and leave Naomi to her fate?

"Continue to glean in his fields and his fields only, while I consider how to approach him," Naomi told Ruth. "It is not right that you should have no rest in your care for me. Let me care for you this once."

Caring for Naomi was no hardship, but Ruth bowed her head. "As you say."

\-----

"Boaz is seeking a man who is nearer kinsman to you than he is," said Ruth. "What shall I do?"

"Wait," Naomi advised. "Not every man is honorable enough to redeem a kinsman's widow. It may be that he will refuse to tangle his own inheritance in ours."

"And if Boaz redeems the land and takes me to wife?" asked Ruth.

"Then you shall be his wife, and I shall praise the Lord and give thanks for your good fortune," said Naomi.

Marriage to Boaz would indeed be good fortune, and pleasing, but Ruth would miss the tiny room she shared with Naomi, and the time she spent with no one else to divide her attention. She loved Naomi: as a daughter, as a woman, as a friend.

"If that comes to pass, I will bring you into his household with me," she said, "as I came to Bethlehem with you. We will not be parted."

Naomi smiled. "That is Boaz's place to decide, but I thank you. Your kindness is more than I deserve, when I am nothing but a bitter, barren widow."

"You are no such thing," Ruth insisted. "You are kindness and virtue itself. You have always cared for me and honored me far more than I deserve, and now in times of hardship, you are more beautiful and gracious than ever. Naught but death shall part me from you; this I swore and swear again."

Greatly daring, she leaned in and kissed Naomi's forehead.

Naomi sighed, but did not withdraw or frown.

Ruth kissed her cheek, and then her lips. "I love you," she whispered. "Now and forever. May the Lord set his hand against me all of my days if I should ever grow cold toward you, or neglect to repay what I owe you, or show you anything less than honor."

"Oh, Ruth," said Naomi, and laid her hand tenderly against Ruth's cheek. "You are a blessing. You have brought me joy when I had sorrow, and hope when I had only despair. How could I do anything but love you?" But she did not return Ruth's kiss.

Ruth knelt before Naomi and laid her head in the other woman's lap to hide her tears.

Naomi stroked Ruth's hair in silence, and they waited for Boaz to send a messenger informing them of their fate.

\---------------

**End of Story**


End file.
